Vail gets access to federal grant money

VAIL, Colorado – The Federal Transit Administration announced Tuesday that the town of Vail will have access to nearly $5 million in grant money for its Lionshead Transit Center project.

The project’s first phase is expected to begin construction in August. The town of Vail is scheduled to award the construction bid at its Aug. 3 meeting.

The grant money has been in place since 2008, with more money added to the grant fund being held for the town each year. More than $2 million of the money is available because the city of Colorado Springs refused it because of the matching requirement.

The town of Vail is required to match 20 percent of the $4,944,784 grant, or about $1 million, for a total of about $6 million. The town is expected to spend about $5 million to $5.5 million on the first phase of the Lionshead Transit Center project, which would add bus bays to the Frontage Road along the north side of the Lionshead parking structure, Frontage Road intersection improvements at East Lionshead Circle, a small Frontage Road transit building with a waiting area and restrooms, and a new passenger drop-off at the lowest level of the Lionshead parking structure with a new entrance into the structure off East Lionshead Circle.